Kenyan farmers are posting pictures of swarms like the Biblical plague, so large that they block out the sun.

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The desert locusts have hit  eight African countries where at least 20 million people are food insecure because of the three deadly ‘C.s’ : conflict, climate change and COVID 19.

In addition to Kenya they include Somalia, Uganda, South Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Sudan,

They have stayed and produced a new generation because of favorable conditions including above-average rainfall.

Pesticide to eradicate or at least thin them has been blocked by the coronavirus lockdown.

The swarms generally number 150 million per square kilometer, devouring every leaf where they land. Driven by the wind they can travel 150 kilometers a day.

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President Donald Trump’s foreign policy point man came virtually empty handed to counter China’s growing influence in continent he is trying to court.

Ironically Mike Pompeo’s last stop on his three- nation safari was Addis Ababa which has China written all over it.

The airport where he landed and the highway that carried him into the city are both built by China, as is the metro system, the modern railway to Djibouti, factories and the African Union headquarters where he saw the president of the continental organization.

The US Secretary Of State promised $8-million to fight a plague of locusts in East Africa and the Horn.

But he came with no new investment initiatives in a continent largely ignored by his administration.

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It could spread to at least five other countries in the region.

In one Somali town the residents have started eating the pests.

The locust plague is the worst in a quarter of a century.

It has stripped the cereal grass teff and maize being harvested on 70 000 hectares in Somalia and eastern Ethiopia.

With climatic conditions favourable to their breeding and governments in the region poorly equipped to fight the plague, locusts could spread in to Kenya, Eritrea, Djibouti, Sudan and South Sudan. 

In the central Somali town of Adado, residents have started eating the locusts after Islamic scholars reportedly declared them Halaal. 

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He replaces South African lawyer Nicholas Haysom who was expelled by Somali authorities for questioning their legal basis for arresting opposition activists.

James Swan will have his work cut out dealing with the Mogadishu administration led by Mohammed Abdullahi Mohammed.

He has spent most of his career serving in African countries undergoing complex transitions.

Swan was US Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and Djibouti. He also served in Cameroon, Nicaragua and Haiti.

Haysom has been reassigned by UN boss Antonio Guterres to mediate in finding a solution between pro-democracy demonstrators and the military council that ousted Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir.

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At least five other heads of government will join deliberations on Africa’s two most troubling issues.

It’s in his capacity as rotating chair of the African Union that Egypt’s President Abdelfattah El Sisi has called the summits.

AU commission chair Moussa Faki will be there along with the Presidents of Chad, Djibouti, Rwanda, DRC and Somalia.

Five more African countries are sending foreign ministers or special advisers.

On Sudan they’ll consider how best to back stability and peace following the coup ousting Omar Al Bashir easier this month.

With rebel-led fighting around Tripoli, the African leaders will seek ways of dealing with the Libyan crisis and eradicate the terrorism fueling the conflict.

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Human Rights Watch lists violations that include enslavement of young people.

Isaias Afwerki used Eritrea’s  20 year war with Ethiopia to justify his oppression.

This includes indefinite conscription that amounts to the enforced labour of young people.

Parliament, political parties, an independent judiciary and a 1997 constitution are prohibited.

Government opponents are jailed without trial and held incommunicado.

Signing a peace deal with Ethiopia last year and re-establishing diplomatic relations with Djibouti have been hailed internationally.

But according to Human Rights Watch, they’ve not changed Afwerki’s  oppressive measures.

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He told reporters that President Abdelaziz Bouteflika decision not to run again has opened a new chapter of Algerian history.

President Emmanuel Macron is the first French President to visit Djibouti since Nicolas Sarkozy was there nine years ago.

He is looking to counter the growing Chinese influence in the Horn. The People’s Liberation Army has China’s first foreign military base in Djibouti.

Macron met Ethiopia’s reformist prime minister and regional peace broker Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa.

In Kenya, he’ll talk to President Uhuru Kenyatta about infrastructural developments including the commuter rail link between the capital and the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

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The cuts represent the Pentagon’s shift from counter terror to great power competition with China and Russia.

The US Africa Command says the cuts to the 7 200 American troops on the continent will amount to less that ten percent.

Operations in Somalia, Libya and Djibouti – where the US has its only permanent military base in Africa – will remain the same.

But in West Africa, the tactical assistance to forces fighting violent extremist organizations  will be replaced with personnel providing advisory, assistance, liaison and intelligence sharing.

A deadly ambush that saw US soldiers killed in Niger last year has got the American public asking why they were in the first place.  

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He’ll visit the Amhara capital Bahir Dar and the historical city of Gondar.

The Eritrean President’s visit to neighboring Ethiopia comes as the UN Security Council considers lifting sanctions against his country.

The 15-nation UN powerhouse will next week to debate a British draft resolution lifting the arms embargo, travel ban and asset freeze on Eritrea following its rapprochement with Ethiopia and Somalia. 

France and some other council members , however want to maintain pressure  on President Azarias Awerki until he’s signed a peace accord with Djibouti.

Deadly clashes have occurred between the Horn of Africa countries for a decade since Djibouti accused Asmara of moving troops across the border.

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The oil-rich kingdom’s pariah status has not repelled a number of countries receiving its largesse.

South Sudan has issued a statement calling Saudi Arabia’s confession to killing critic Jamal Khashoggi honorable and reaffirming its strong ties with Riyadh.

Ethiopia’s Deputy Prime Minister’s attending the Saudi trade gathering  known as Davos in the desert, which has been increasingly  shunned by Western political and business leader.

He was pictured sitting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Djibouti condemns what it calls a media campaign to tarnish Saudi’s image.

Somalia’s expressed full solidarity with Saudi Arabia.

Mauritania has expressed full confidence in Saudi justice.

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